How to determine value of miscellaneous jewelry

The person you're looking for is an "appraiser". Look for a jewelry appraiser specifically.

I saw this thread on the same page as the thread about Kim Kardashian getting robbed of $10M in jewelry and thought....nah. Couldn't be.


(Wow! What a heist! One ring worth $4.5M, which will likely be cut up and sold in pieces. I hope they catch them)

Anyway, an appraiser is what you need, as jjbenedictis said. I imagine (but have no experience myself) that one you pay will be more accurate than a free one who might underappraise then try to buy the pieces from you.

Yep. If you go to one of those places that say they'll buy your gold, they'll under-appraise in order to buy low from you to make a profit. Take them to a reliable jeweler.

juniper said:

I've been sorting through my stuff and today was looking at my small collection of jewelry. The stuff I've bought over the years are just simple things, probably little value.

My aunt and mom, though, have left me some that I have no idea of what they really are.

Pearls - fake? real? value?

Gold necklaces - fake? real? value?

Gold and diamond rings - fake? real? value?

And some other assorted things like that. I haven't worn most of them - I'm not really into a lot of jewelry - but I'm downsizing and either want to donate these things to the thrift shop or sell them.

Should I go to a pawn shop? A jewelry store? I know I should get more than one opinion on them. But I really don't know how to do this.

Advice? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Appraisal yes but I can tell you a couple things.

Pearls: fake pearls have a noticeable paint like surface and you can usually see the plastic underneath at the hole for the string. Real pearls are more often knotted in between each pearl and you should see a better thread than just cheap looking string. Real pearls will be colder to the touch and plastic will be warmer.

It probably takes an appraiser to tell the difference between cultured pearls and natural pearls (worth more).

Gold: Not always but most of the time gold is marked with a tiny imprint that will say the carat. For a necklace the mark will be near the clasp, a ring it will be etched on the inside.

Diamonds and other precious stones: Look at the mounting. Precious stones are mounted so that light can hit the bottom of the stone. If it is mounted in a solid setting, it's going to be glass. Rhinestone is typically painted on the bottom of the stone in a reflective material. With a very good magnifier and good light, real stones will have flawless surfaces, rhinestone will have obvious scratches.

But some rhinestone jewelry is still valuable. Look for a name of the designer or maker. You can then go online and see if it is a recognizable name, worth more. But some signed pieces aren't valuable and some unsigned ones are. Old costume jewelry can be worth hundreds of dollars sometimes, especially older jewelry.


If you do go to the pawn shop for an appraisal, don't sell it to them. You never know if they are right, or honest. Do your homework first. You can always go back and sell it to them if you verify their appraisal.

If you post some pics I might be able to tell you a little more, but it definitely takes an in-person look to say for sure.

Lillian_Blaire said:

Yep. If you go to one of those places that say they'll buy your gold, they'll under-appraise in order to buy low from you to make a profit. Take them to a reliable jeweler.

Click to expand...

Yes, if you can find one willing to appraise, this is always a better option for determining the value. There are also some antique dealers who do the same, some with better skills and honesty than others.

Rhinestone Rosie is a reliable appraiser here in Seattle. I met her at Antiques Roadshow. She appraised my mom's charm bracelet from the 50s when my dad was in the Navy at a couple hundred dollars. I was ecstatic to tell my mom her bracelet that she had given me was valuable. I still have it of course.

The teeth trick totally works for pearls, ie if you rub it against your teeth and it feels gritty it's probably real. If the pearls were from the 20-30's though, odds are they are fake, although the clasps might be real gold. For a while the regulations about selling pearls were so lax that plastic pearls could be sold as real.

There is a great books called How to be a Jewelry detective written by Jeanenne Bell, that can probably help you out. It goes through various metal marks, maker marks (and some costume jewelry can have value), and various attributes to date jewelry.

Hi
Pearls, once considers a desirable luxury, are not worth much now a days . Some pearl jewellery that belonged to someone famous, can still go for a good price . But most inherited pearl jewellery in not real, but even if it is , it is probably not valuable .

Gold , Most good gold jewellery is hallmarked , you can look up the marks on line . Some is unmarked , Indian gold is not . All gold has a scrap value , that can make heavy items valuable. You can also look up the value of scrap gold on line.

Diamonds , Diamonds can vary from almost worthless to extremely valuable. You will need an expert to tell you what yours are

+1 to the "teeth" trick for pearls. It's really easy to tell the difference between most real (usually cultured) pearls and fake. Real feels gritty against your teeth; fake feels smooth.

By the way, if you have loose stones you think might be diamond, put them flat-side down atop a page with printed text on it. Diamonds have such a high refractive index that you shouldn't be able to see anything of the letters through it. With non-diamond, you'll usually see a wiggly version of the letters through the stone. It's called the "newspaper" test and you can google it to see images of what you would or would not see for diamond. Not a totally trustworthy test, but it will usually tell you whether something is definitely not diamond.

The only piece of jewellery I own: a 13th century gold annular brooch with inset garnets. I love to metal detect and dug this up in a field in North Norfolk, UK (it still has dirt on it in the pic). Every time I pick it up, I wonder what sort of person dropped it over 800 years ago...

Get rid of the jewelry and then watch Antiques Road Show for the next five years. You'll be surprised at how much it was worth. If, on the other hand, you decide to keep it, it will be worthless. I call this shakey's law of hoarded crap--s6

MaeZe said:

Diamonds and other precious stones: Look at the mounting. Precious stones are mounted so that light can hit the bottom of the stone. If it is mounted in a solid setting, it's going to be glass. Rhinestone is typically painted on the bottom of the stone in a reflective material. With a very good magnifier and good light, real stones will have flawless surfaces, rhinestone will have obvious scratches.

Click to expand...

Actually, light enters a diamond through the top, bounces around inside the stone, and then exits through the top. A lot of settings will cover the bottom of the stone. Any jewelry store will be able to test a white stone for you to see if it's a real diamond or not. Just adding my two cents as a former professional diamond snob.

I just - honestly. My Great-Aunt Agnes is the person you're looking for. She'd have this stuff down to the last dollar. Then she'd put 15% on, and flog it off to a grandchild.